[mythtv-users] Newbie questions about MythTV solution

[Jerry Rubinow]

> I have two TVs, one in the family room and one in the bedroom, and
> I'm thinking it would make sense to have a frontend in each of those
> rooms.  I'd have the backend elsewhere containing all the storage and
> at least two tuners and it would also control the digital cable box.
> The add-ons I'd want to use would be MythDVD, MythGallery, MythGame,
> MythMusic, MythWeather, and MythWeb.  I have an 802.11g network at my
> house.

> Sounds like a good plan for a setup.  One thing to note (which you've 
> probably noticed, anyway, but bear with me): the plugins are all 
> frontend-only apps, meaning if you want, say, MythVideo or MythMusic
on 
> both of your frontends, then they either both need copies of your
music 
> & video files, or at least one of them needs to mount the directory
over 
> the network.  I believe the mount point must always be the same,
though 
> I could be wrong there.

I was figuring that all the media would reside on the backend machine
and none on the frontends.  Should there be any problem with mounting
the backend directory over the network on both frontends at once?

>> From either frontend, I'd like to be able to: use it as a PVR,
>> stick in a DVD and play it, stream audio, view pictures, look at
>> weather info, and play MAME.  I only need access to MythWeb
>> remotely, not from the frontends.  Should this be possible and what
>> issues can I expect to have to resolve?

> Only that you need the hardware & processing power in each frontend to

> support whatever you want.  Keep in mind that what you refer to as 
> 'streaming audio' (I assume you're referring to MythMusic) is really 
> just hosting an mp3/ogg/flac player, with the music files located in a

> directory that may be local or network-mounted.  In general, nothing
in 
> Myth is 'streamed' other than the basic TV recordings.

In my envisioned setup, the backend has two tuners, both with mpeg
encoders, and the frontends have mpeg decoding built into the
motherboard.  What kind of processing power will I need on the backend
in order to record two shows at once and playback two other recorded
shows, one to each frontend?  The mini-itx boards on the frontends
should be fully capable of playing back whatever video they're
receiving, right?

How about the wireless network - for anyone who has an 802.11g setup,
how many video streams are you able to have going simultaneously?

> Sounds like you understand the high-level architecture reasonable
well. 
  Good luck with your setup!

Thanks for the info!  And thanks to the people who pointed out sources
of 802.11g Linux drivers.

-Jerry